Double Game Update: “Pakistan shuts NATO supply line,” by Bruce Loudon for The Australian, November 17 (thanks to JE):
PAKISTAN cut off the main NATO supply route into Afghanistan yesterday, citing Taliban and al-Qa’ida attacks on the Khyber Pass, the perilous mountain trail that carries most supplies into the war-torn country for the 35,000-strong coalition force.
Taliban fighters have been trying to strangle NATO’s mission in Afghanistan by stepping up attacks on convoys in the Khyber Pass, and yesterday forced Pakistan to suspend all traffic along the route.
More than 350 trucks and oil tankers use the pass each day, carrying NATO supplies that have been shipped to the Pakistani port city of Karachi.
But government officials in Islamabad said last night the suspension of the important land route had become inevitable because of intensified militant activity in the Khyber Tribal Agency.
Any long-term closure of the road would make the problem of resupplying coalition troops in Afghanistan very difficult….
And the chief beneficiaries would be the Taliban.